The Department of Agriculture awarded 126 broadband grants worth $1.2 billion Wednesday as a part of its second round of broadband funding through last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Despite the ambitious nature of the initiative, Secretary Tom Vilsack said it wouldn’t ensure the full deployment of universal broadband in the U.S.. “It’s a down payment, but not a balloon payment approach … to make broadband available in all corners of the country,” he told a media briefing. “There is a lot of work to be done but this certainly puts people to work.”

Talks over performance royalties for broadcasters have intensified recently, with a deal between radio and music labels on both terrestrial and streaming payments seeming more likely, industry officials said Wednesday. Such a deal has been expected by some (CD July 23 p15). The sides have held on-again, off-again conversations at the behest of members of Congress who want industry to come to an agreement about the performance royalties. Although an agreement seems closer, it’s far from certain that individual labels and owners of radio stations, which would need to approve any agreement, will sign on, industry officials said.

Broadcast ad sales continued to rebound in Q2 from lows during the recession and the resurgence seems to be holding through Q3, executives told investors on quarterly earnings teleconferences this week. But stations need to be careful how they manage their inventory in coming months, because an influx of political revenue could limit stations’ ability to benefit from the rebound, they said. “We're in a pure supply-and-demand business and we raise the rates as the pressure dictates on the inventory,” said Steve Marks, chief operating officer of Sinclair’s TV division. “The political is going to be big, and that will cause pressure on the inventory. We're on top of it, we're managing it, our pace is terrific and we have plenty of great spots left to sell."

Universal Service Fund revamp legislation recently introduced by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. (CD July 23 p1) doesn’t offer much for satellite broadband providers, said industry executives. The legislation, which would create a fund to help extend Internet to the most rural regions, leaves out the technology that could expand broadband the furthest at the lowest cost, they contend.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes continues to endorse broadcasters’ view on retransmission consent, he told investors Wednesday. That keeps him at odds with the company’s former Time Warner Cable unit, the lead petitioner for reforms in how the FCC handles contractual disputes between TV stations and subscription-video providers. “We think on the whole it’s desirable” for broadcast networks to build up a second revenue stream, Bewkes said on a conference call to discuss earnings.

HOUSTON -- The FCC is showing more willingness to consider the reallocation of the 700 MHz D-block as an alternative to the commission’s proposed plan for a national wireless broadband network for public safety, APCO President Richard Mirgon told us as the group’s national meeting neared its end. Public safety’s focus has shifted from the FCC to Capitol Hill, where legislation that would give public safety the D-block appears to be gaining support, he said. Mirgon noted that legislation by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., in the House and Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., would reallocate the key band. Plus, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Commerce Committee, appears committed to offering legislation.

HOUSTON -- A major question the FCC must work through with the advice of the public safety community is how people will be able to send text messages seeking help to 911 call centers nationwide, said Jeff Cohen, senior legal counsel to the FCC Public Safety Bureau. “Certainly one important thing I hear about … is the inability to send texts to 911,” he said at a town hall meeting at APCO on the regulatory framework for a next-generation 911 service. “We need to figure out what’s the best way to support real-time texting, and it’s especially important for the safety community."

An FCC request for comment on whether to expand outage reporting requirements to VoIP and broadband and if so how generated little enthusiasm from telecom and Internet companies and groups. Providers from Vonage to the major wireless carriers said in comments late Monday that mandatory requirements would impose unnecessary burdens on the industry. Current outage reporting obligations apply to voice and/or paging communications over wireline, wireless, cable and satellite communications services.

HOUSTON -- Congress would have to broker any deal on the 700 MHz D-block and the future of public safety communications and not the FCC, Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett told reporters late Monday at the APCO annual conference. The D-block is the only area of real controversy between the FCC and public safety, he said. Others at APCO questioned how much good such discussions would do. Ex-Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Ed Thomas suggested last month that the FCC should lock all parties in a room, “slide pizza under the door” and not let anyone out until an agreement has been reached. The FCC largely brokered an agreement on 800 MHz rebanding six years ago and in recent weeks has sought an agreement on broadband reclassification. Thomas suggested a similar push on a public safety broadband network.

HOUSTON -- APCO played a major role in restoring emergency communications in Haiti following January’s massive earthquake, President Richard Mirgon said Tuesday at the group’s annual conference. A major side effect of the earthquake was the destruction of Haiti’s land mobile radio system, with its transmitter in the presidential palace. An estimated 10,000 emergency calls were made and not answered after disaster struck, Mirgon said.